Bible Commentaries

Exodus 2:1-2 — who had been dead for centuries as the time of the exodus approached. Levi was the head of the tribe which later became the Levites and who had charge of the religious life of Israel. The names of the parents, not given here, are recorded in Exodus 6:1 as Amram and Jochebed. There were two older children: Miriam, already a young woman of about 15 years of age and Aaron who was some three years older than Moses. Both of these had been born before Pharaoh's cruel edict to destroy all the male children.

Exodus 24:7-8 — part that they would indeed obey the word of God followed the reading of the Book of the Covenant in their hearing by Moses himself. "This was Israel's third promise to obey. See Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3; and Exodus 23:22.Wilbur Fields, op. cit., p. 536. "And Moses took the blood… and sprinkled it on the people" Note that none was sprinkled on the pillars. This double blood-sprinkling was the establishment of the covenant, the covenant being specifically mentioned in connection with the ceremony

Exodus 3:7-8 — as had the Canaanites that the same fate awaited Israel. "The first movement of God toward Moses was to outline in words what God proposed to do."Hywel R. Jones, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2962), p. 123. The "Canaanites" mentioned here are sometimes called the "seven nations." All of them were settled in Canaan (Palestine) centuries before Israel. a)    The word "Canaanite" applied to all of these related groups, and also

Exodus 3:9-11 — magnificently! The source-splitters and meddlers with the Sacred Text have attempted to postulate their version of a "contradiction," affirming that the real commissioning of Moses actually took place, not in Midian, but in Egypt, according to Exodus 6:10-13. The answer to this lies in the fact that the latter mention of the commission is nothing more than a renewal of the commission already given. Just as God renewed the covenant with Abraham, he found it necessary here to renew the charge to Moses.

2 Kings 14:17-22 — is the conspiracy against Amaziah. There is no evidence whatever that the conspiracy was either led or encouraged by the children of the murderers of Amaziah's father whom Amaziah had spared on the basis of God's commandment mentioned in 2 Kings 14:6. 2 Chronicles 25:27 reveals that the element of Judah that was faithful to the worship of Jehovah was the center of that conspiracy. We read that, "From the time that Amaziah departed from the Lord, they formed a conspiracy against him." Thus, it was

1 Chronicles 13:1-14 — carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months: and Jehovah blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had." 2 Samuel is parallel with this chapter in 6:11. (See Vol. 4 of our commentaries on the historical books (2 Samuel), pp. 67-73, for comments on the events recorded here.)

1 Chronicles 5:25-26 — prince" Despite the fact of the double portion, normally the right of the first-born, having been transferred to Joseph, "The Chronicler thought that the birthright of Joseph was nullified by the apostasy of North Israel,"The Anchor Bible, Chronicles, p. 36. and that the blessing of the leadership of God's people was transferred to Judah. "Pul, and Tilgath-pilneser" The name of this ruler is given as Tiglath-pileser in 2 Kings 15:29. The variation in name could have come about by different pronunciations

Ezra 2:59-63 — wrong they were! John the Baptist had warned them that God was "Able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Matthew 3:9); and Paul thundered the verdict in the ears of the nation that, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel" (Romans 9:6); but, alas, pride and arrogance can blind the eyes and harden the hearts of all who thus delude themselves.

Esther 6:12-14 — had access to Persian court records; and it is impossible to imagine any kind of motivation that could have led to writing a fictitious yarn with the cosmic dimensions of the Book of Esther. It therefore is most certainly history, not fiction. Esther 6:14 here relates that the chamberlains came to take Haman away to the banquet. "Haman went to Esther's second banquet like a sheep to the slaughter."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 454.

Psalms 107:4-9 — and the hungry soul he filleth with good" This might be paraphrased as, "God answers prayers." This reminds us of the words of the Savior who said, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

Psalms 119:169-176 — the Lord shall seek and save him. It is surprising that McCullough did not interpret this remark as a reference to sin, but "To a deterioration in the psalmist's circumstances, or to an absence from his people."The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 638. To us, it is impossible to allow such an interpretation to stand. "Going astray like a lost sheep" is a reference to sin. "Let my lips utter praise… let my tongue sing… my soul shall praise thee" This is the psalmist's pledge to continue

Psalms 12:6 — as the direct message of God to David.F. Delitzsch, Old Testament, Psalms (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 195. He also interpreted David's words in Psalms 12:7 as the equivalent of the psalmist's solemn "Amen" to God's promise in Psalms 12:5-6. THE SEVEN-FOLD PURIFICATION OF GOD'S WORD Satan himself tried God's Word in Eden, saying "Thou shalt not surely die," but the sprawling cemeteries of the whole world, spread like patches of leprosy in every nation have purified God's word. Yes indeed,

Psalms 49:5-8 — them by any means can redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it abideth forever)." "Days of evil… iniquity at my heels… they that trust in riches" The proximity of Psalms 49:5-6, is not accidental. Although the psalm does not say that all rich persons are wicked, it is clear enough that the days of evil and the encircling iniquity mentioned in Psalms 49:5 are clearly due to rich men who are evil, who trust in their riches and

Isaiah 25:9-12 — to describe the final punishment of the wicked are all repulsive: (1) the lake of fire; (2) the perpetual silence; (3) the outer darkness;, (4) where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; (5) where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not; (6) a pool of blood up to the horses bridles for 200 miles! etc. This description is the seventh;, (7) a man trying to swim out of a watered dung hole! Rather than being offended by such descriptions, men should strive to avoid the place or condition described. "Where

Isaiah 38:18-20 — wrote: "Ingenious scholars, whose aim is to present us with the text as they think Isaiah should have written it, are pretty well agreed that there is a dislocation here, and that these last two verses ought to have come earlier, perhaps between Isaiah 38:6-7; and they compare the order in the book of Kings."George C. M. Douglas, p. 294. It has been almost a century since Douglas wrote this; but he here pointed squarely to the great passion of countless critical commentators of our own times, whose comments

Jeremiah 29:21-23 — who would become captives later (Jeremiah 29:15-19); (3)    Ahab, Zedekiah and their fellow false prophets (Jeremiah 29:21-23); and (4)    to Shemaiah (Jeremiah 29:24-32)."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 643. This extensive letter, addressed to different groups, indicates that Jeremiah's communication with the captives had been rather extensive. Shemaiah was among those who had written a letter which Jeremiah read; and there were doubtless other examples

Jeremiah 3:6-10 — reforms had little or no effect upon the ultimate fate of Judah is found in these two words right here. They publicly went along with all the reforms; but, at heart, they still adored and worshipped their beloved fertility gods of the Baalim. Jeremiah 3:6 has the words, "Hast thou seen… backsliding Israel?" Cook tells us that in the Hebrew here, "The original is very strong: Hast thou seen Apostasy?"Canon F. C. Cook, Jeremiah, p. 154. It is the same as if the Holy Spirit said that, "Israel is

Numbers 10:21-28 — correct: (1)    Cook thought that for this very first journey, the ark's proceeding in front was just another exception, as was the case also, "when the ark preceded the people into the bed of the Jordan River (Joshua 3:3; Joshua 3:6)."F. C. Cook, op. cit., p. 205. (2)    Smick pointed out that the instructions to go in advance might have applied merely to the men actually transporting the tabernacle and the furniture, and that the great number of the hosts of

Numbers 3:33-37 — Levites. It should be noted that Eleazar, son of Aaron, was appointed over the three princes of these divisions, giving him, in effect, charge of the entire tabernacle complex. The totals of the enrollees of these divisions are 7,500 for Gershon, 8,600 for Kohath, and 6,200 for Merari, yielding a grand total of 22,300, precipitating the "tremendous problem" posed by the flat 22,000 given for this total in Numbers 3:39! Apparently, some of the commentators never heard of "round numbers." Exploring

Deuteronomy 13:6-11 — midst of thee." Strangely, "father and mother" are not listed here, along with other close kin, and, from this, Cook supposed that, "This could imply that no one was obligated to impeach father or mother."Ibid. "The son of thy mother" (Deuteronomy 13:6). "These words are probably not intended to identify the person spoken of here as a half-brother, but for the purpose of showing the closeness of the relationship."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 364. This requirement that one should not even spare the closest